SARAJEVO, APRIL 19 (ONASA) – Member of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović, member of the BiH Presidency and president of the DF Željko Komšić, president of the SDA Bakir Izetbegović, president of the SDP of BiH Nermin Nikšić, president of the NIP Elmedin Konaković, president of the NS Edin Forto, NES president Nermin Ogrešević and SBiH president Semir Efendić signed and agreed on a joint statement on the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
We transmit the statement in its entirety:
“We call on all political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to stop destructive policies and to consistently respect the Dayton Peace Agreement, the Constitution of BiH, the final and binding decisions of the Constitutional Court of BiH, as well as signed international agreements. We need and must build the future of our country by respecting the principles of the rule of law and legal security, principles of constitutionality and legality, European standards, guaranteed human rights and basic freedoms, and the equality of citizens and the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted final and binding legal positions: the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the heir of state property (Socialists ) of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and property that belonged to the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the description of state property, given by the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is clearly stated that state property does not mean only a set of real estate that serves the public authority to exercise its powers. the property is also a “public good” (seawater, seabed, river water, riverbeds, lakes, mountains and other natural resources, public and transport network, transport infrastructure), which primarily serve all people in the country. State property reflects statehood, independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity that belong exclusively to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, not to the entities. State property is a fundamental element for state power to be essentially, and not formally, sovereign power. That is why the regulation of state property is its exclusive competence. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina and state property cannot and must not be the subject of either what political trades. Only the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has the exclusive authority to regulate all issues related to state property through general or individual legal acts, adopted by competent authorities according to a precisely established procedure. Entities, like all other lower levels of government, must make those decisions respect The state law on property should ensure efficient and transparent management and disposal of the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will serve to achieve a better standard of living of the population and protect the interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as ensure responsible disposal, care and improvement of natural, cultural and historical assets. heritage, and other strategic interests of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The state of Bosnia and Herzegovina has not only external, but also internal continuity of the (Socialist) Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is functionally represented by the state government. The term ‘state’ contained in the provisions of the Constitution of BiH refers exclusively to Bosnia and Herzegovina. More precisely, it refers to three different elements: to the overall state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, recognized under international law, independent and sovereign, to the highest level of government in the state (as opposed to entity and lower levels of government), and the sovereign international legal successor of the (Socialist) Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The unquestionable continuity between the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the present-day state of Bosnia and Herzegovina unequivocally points to the conclusion that the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, according to the Succession Agreement, was given the state property specified in that Agreement, i.e. that Bosnia and Herzegovina is the owner of that property. No baseless statements can change elementary constitutional facts. The Prosecutor’s Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina and other competent authorities of the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina must prosecute the responsible persons who announce that they will continue the unconstitutional and illegal registration of the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the entity of the RS. Statements by individual officials from the RS entity that they will illegally register the state property of Bosnia and Herzegovina represent a continuation of the dangerous policy of undermining the Dayton Peace Agreement.
Threats of secessionism sent by official representatives of the entity authorities of the RS and certain political parties that primarily operate in the territory of the entity of the RS, and their refusal to implement final and binding decisions of the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina represent gross attacks on the Dayton Peace Agreement, which endangers peace and stability in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the entire region. On any activity that poses a threat to the territorial integrity, sovereignty and international legal subjectivity of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be responded to strongly and decisively, by all necessary mechanisms and means. We warn the representatives of the international community, especially the witness countries of the Dayton Peace Agreement, as well as the office of the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina (OHR), that it is high time they take decisive steps so that the anti-Dayton and anti-constitutional policy of the authorities of the RS entity does not experience an escalation with unpredictable and unforeseeable consequences. The absence of a decisive reaction by representatives of the international community to the previous anti-Dayton activities directed against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina continuously encourages the entity institutions of the RS government and political forces led by Milorad Dodik to continue with activities directed against the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We call on all political actors in Bosnia and Herzegovina to respect the rule of law and stop generating crises. The consequences of political crises are the departure of young people, the absence of foreign investments, the stopping of economic growth and the decline of living standards, which will not bring good to anyone in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Instead, we all need to commit to fulfilling the requirements of the European Commission’s Opinion, in order to speed up our path towards the European Union, and to implement the Reform Program Bosnia and Herzegovina on the NATO path”.